Updated 12:44 am, Saturday, February 16, 2013

But it's safe to say he won't endorse incumbent Leticia Ozuna, who faces a formidable challenge from Rebecca Viagran.

“My wife went to (Viagran's) opening,” he said, “and the wounds of Pecan Valley run deep.”

I had called Adkisson to ask about the twisty saga of the Pecan Valley Golf Club. But he brought up the historic golf course before I had the chance, casting its loss as an incurable wound for the South Side — and placing the blame squarely on Ozuna.

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“I think she just lost the willpower to fight,” he said. “Frankly, I think if she had had more resolve, we wouldn't be where we are. Somewhere along the way, she allowed herself to be walked into compromise.”

Adkisson's snub is likely an unpleasant surprise for Ozuna, who spent seven months in 2010 helping the commissioner defend his own seat against Susan Pamerleau, who's now Bexar County sheriff. For Adkisson, “compromise” on the community's beloved golf course is an irredeemable sin.

In her own defense, Ozuna says, “There was a set of cards that I inherited,” and indeed, the councilwoman's hand was poor from the start.

Ozuna's council colleagues had just appointed her to represent the district when Foresight Golf abruptly shuttered the golf course in January 2012. The Boerne-based company was planning to build multifamily housing on the property, where the PGA Championship was held in 1968.

At a neighborhood meeting at the time, Ozuna said, “I will take this battle to City Hall. I will do my best to save this golf course.”

Rushing to secure signatures before the developer could submit plans, Ozuna persuaded council colleagues to support a rezoning of the entire property so it could be used only as a golf course. Her alacrity sparked a process of governance that slowed down plans and enabled public debate.

She was hoping to use a golf-only zoning district that John Clamp, a former councilman, had created in 2009, when he stopped plans to replace the Northern Hills Golf Club with apartments.

In repudiating Ozuna's actions, Adkisson is quick to note Clamp's success: “The Northern Hills golf course managed to pull off the same thing we were asking for because their council person stood with it.”

But Clamp held a much better hand.

The same day Ozuna sought the rezoning, she turned up a bad card: The owner already had filed a replat for 11 acres of the property. Moreover, Clamp prevailed because the owner hadn't yet sold the property.

In this case, the course wasn't for sale; Foresight is developing the property itself.

Ozuna was astute enough to raise concerns that development could worsen flooding in the area. But ultimately she compromised, agreeing to rezone just a portion of the property and allow the redevelopment to move forward.

This inevitably angered residents, and Adkisson, who's up for re-election next year, is riding the wave.

“She did work hard for my campaign re-election, but that doesn't give a person a license to come out and trash one of our iconic features,” Adkisson said.

Ozuna “got thrown into the deep end,” County Commissioner Kevin Wolff said. “Tommy is the consummate populist politician. He could sit there and play to his constituency base and it wouldn't cost him anything.”

Adkisson's trashing of Ozuna is facile — easily done from the sidelines by someone who admits to being “a bit player” in the drama. He's right on one front, though: The sinking of the golf course is a political liability for Ozuna.

“What (Ozuna) did is she handed her prospective opponent a huge issue that resonates to the very soul of a community,” he said. “You can't do that.”

As election season ramps up, the defunct course is now an overgrown wasteland — an ugly reminder of the community's loss. On the fence that runs alongside the property is a large campaign sign: “Keep Ozuna.”